David Ferrer served notice of his intent at the French Open with a fourth-round demolition of Kevin Anderson.
The fourth seed has been exceptionally consistent at grand slams over the past 18 months and today’s 6-3 6-1 6-1 victory sent him through to his sixth consecutive quarter-final.
Four times he has reached semi-finals in that run, including last year at Roland Garros when he beat Andy Murray, but Ferrer is still waiting for his first final appearance.
Next up for the Spaniard will be a match against compatriot Tommy Robredo who battled his way from two sets down for the third round running to defeat fellow countryman Nicolas Almagro 6-7 (5) 3-6 6-4 6-4 6-4 on Suzanne Lenglen.
He is now the first man since Henri Cochet at the 1927 edition of Wimbledon to come back from two sets behind in three consecutive Grand Slam matches.
Robredo is now a five time quarter-finalist in Paris after upsetting the 11th seed.
World number 32 Robredo missed the 2011 and 2012 French Opens because of a leg injury, an absence which saw him slip to 471 in the rankings in May last year.
But he has been in a rich vein of form coming into the French Open, winning the Casablanca title on clay earlier this season.
Jo-Wilfried Tsonga delighted the Roland Garros crowd as he cruised past Viktor Troicki.
The sixth seed is yet to drop a set in the tournament after outclassing the world number 57 to wrap up a 6-3 6-3 6-2 win in just one hour and 45 minutes on Court Philippe Chatrier.
The French number one raced through the first set, needing just 26 minutes and four winners as Troicki struggled to cope with his impressive serve.
The second set was a more closely contested affair as the Serbian began to find his feet and he won his first three service games, although he needed to save three break points to hold for 3-2.
But Tsonga made the breakthrough in the seventh game, converting his first break point with a well-judged lob then broke again at the next opportunity for a 2-0 lead.
Tsonga was producing some stunning tennis at the start of the third set but he was lacking a killer touch and let Troicki off in his first service game.
The nerves began to show a little in the fifth game and the Frenchman needed to save a break point to keep himself ahead at 3-2.
But that appeared to restore his confidence and he broke Troicki to love in the next game, moving into a 4-2 lead with a superb forehand down the line.
Troicki again had to save break points to hold for 5-3 but it was merely delaying the inevitable as Tsonga converted his third match point to set up a last eight meeting with either compatriot Gilles Simon or 17-time Grand Slam champion Roger Federer.